The DII and DIII men’s lacrosse championships are determined. The victors of the season are the only thing left to decide.
What a weekend it was for lacrosse; the weather was beautiful, the games were great. It almost feels like life is back to normal. The road to Hartford has been a long and arduous one, but with one week left in the season, it looks like the best is saved for last!
DII & DIII Men’s Lacrosse Championships Are Set
DII – LeMonye & Lenior-Rhyne Remain
LeMoyne 11 – Mercyhurst 9
One thing is for sure: when these two teams meet, it will be a defensive slugfest, and this game didn’t disappoint. Mercyhurst took a narrow lead into halftime, but being the second half team it is, LeMoyne jumped on the Lakers and took control in a narrow 11-9 win.
Although they have seemed like a Memorial Day mainstay, this will be the first trip for the Dolphins back to Championship Weekend since 2016. Styles make fights, and this DII championship will be one for the ages as the Dolphins defense will go up against one of the most explosive offenses in the country.
Lenoir-Rhyne 18 – Wingate 10
Bears are dancing! I called it earlier this season when I said one of these two teams would be playing on Memorial Day Weekend. Coach Paradine took this program from nothing and now has it playing for its first national championship. This team plays a suffocating style of lacrosse and has the ability to blow games wide open with its up-tempo offense. This game mimicked that style. A close contest at the beginning was blown open in the second half as the Bears cruised into Championship Weekend on the shoulders of one of DII’s most exciting players, Eric Dickinson.
Kudos to Wingate on a great season, and it will be back. Coach Boyle and the Bulldogs must have stock in Delta, because the non-stop flights from Long Island to Charlotte aren’t stopping anytime soon. They have an impressive recruiting class coming to help them reload and hopefully get them to Championship Weekend in the future. The Bears have a date with destiny, and my guess is that the Bears will be too much for the Dolphins and the SAC will have its first national champion in LR.
You can watch the DII men’s lacrosse championship game on NCAA.com at 1 p.m. EST on Sunday.
DIII – RIT Outlast Tufts
RIT 18 – Tufts 16
This was it. Everyone had a feeling that if the NESCAC could play this year, it was going to come down to Tufts and RIT for a shot at the national title. This game kept us all on the edge of our seats with great offense, huge defensive stops, and a battle between two great coaches and programs.
RIT jumped out and led late in this one and withstood a huge Tufts comeback to punch its ticket to the DIII championship game and a date with the Salisbury Seagulls, who seem to have been written off a little bit since their opening game loss to Lynchburg. This has the makings to be the best game of the weekend. The unstoppable force versus the immovable object, Andre the Giant versus Hulk Hogan, Tigers versus Seagulls. Buckle up, and make sure you tune in Sunday.
You can watch the DIII men’s lacrosse championship game on NCAA.com at 4 p.m. EST on Sunday.
